O'Neill eyes raid for Spurs striker

Aston Villa and Sunderland are reportedly locked in a battle to sign Tottenham's unsettled striker Darren Bent.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane has been frequently linked with the England international and his need to sign a striker is even greater with Kenwyne Jones ruled out with a long-term knee injury.

The Black Cats will have to pay around £12m for Bent, who struggled to establish himself in Tottenham's first team last season following a big-money move from Charlton.

But Villa manager Martin O'Neill is also reported to have the striker on his list of targets and could finance a move if he finally agrees to sell captain Gareth Barry to Liverpool.

Barry could go to Liverpool for up to £18million, leaving Villa in a strong position to launch a major bid for Bent and their other transfer targets.

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn predicted earlier in the week that there could be a domino effect in the transfer market as big deals start to go through, and Barry's switch to Anfield could be one of those moves.